Trial by Fire
by WriterandDaydreamer4218
Summary: Sometimes the thing you're looking for is right in front of you-right where you least expect it to be. Or, the AU in which Luke discovers a baby girl named Rey on his front porch and decides to raise her against all better judgment-which means he has to learn to balance being a Jedi Master with being a parent, usually through trial and error. Reylo in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, so I know I just published another Star Wars fanfiction a few days ago. I'm going to keep updating that one; I just got this plot bunny stuck in my head and it wouldn't go away. I plan for this story to span all of Ben and Rey's lives up to the Force Awakens, including Ben's turn to the Dark Side.**

 **As it says in the description this will be a Reylo story-non related.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or any of its characters. All rights go to Disney and Lucasfilm.**

 **Enjoy!**

8 years after the Battle of Endor

The first time Luke heard the knock on his front door, he assumed it was just a tree branch of some kind. The Coruscant government had made initiative after initiative to 'beautify' the city planet; it wasn't so uncommon anymore to find a park here or a community garden there in between high rises and buildings older than the Old Republic. In fact, Luke had two saplings planted outside his own house-though they were still too young to call themselves self-respecting trees. In any case, this wasn't the first time he'd been called to the door because of a stray tree branch so he didn't give the noise a second thought.

The second time he heard the knock, five minutes later, he began to wonder if it was a postal carrier. He got all kinds of packages and memos these days-most of them good, a few of them bad-ever since word had gotten around that he was looking to train a new group of Force sensitive children to become the first Jedi Knights of the new Order. Although it _was_ rare for postal carriers to be making their rounds this late at night… "Leave it on the front porch!" he called, making a mental note to remind himself to pick it up in the morning.

Five minutes later, he heard what sounded like a baby crying.

Of course, he knew it was a cry belonging to a human baby. Leia and Han's son, Ben, was two years old now-and he liked to cry every time Luke came to visit for reasons unknown. For a few minutes he was just stunned into silence. This wasn't a sound he was accustomed to hearing on a nightly basis. This was precisely the reason he'd bought a house on the very edge of the city limits-so he could actually get some sleep at night.

Maybe he was imagining things.

Even as the thought crossed his mind, the baby cried again-more insistently this time. It seemed to be coming from right outside his door, curiously enough. Reluctantly he forced himself to stand up and walk to the front door, the cold from the tile floor biting through his thin leather slippers like rows of teeth. "Who's there?" he called, stopping outside the door. There was no reply, though the baby continued to cry. Carefully, he opened the door-and froze automatically.

There was a small wooden basket sitting on his front doorstep. And in that basket was…a baby girl.

For a minute, she stared at Luke and Luke stared right back. Slowly, her crying dwindled from full blown sobs into tiny little hiccups as she looked at him with tiny brown eyes. Luke looked her over carefully; she had a mop of what looked like brown hair on the crown of her head and was staring up at him intently as she carefully sucked her thumb. A blue and pink baby blanket was crushed in her fist, though she was wrapped in layers of other blankets to shield her from the night chill. Pinned to the front of her outfit was a note. Feeling a specific feeling of cold dread in the pit of his stomach, Luke carefully unpinned the note and read it: _Her name is Rey. Please care for her to the best of your ability._

"No." Luke said quietly, rubbing his forehead with the back of one hand in frustration. He couldn't care for a child. He didn't have the time, nor did he know the first thing about raising a baby girl. For a second he was tempted to slam the door on her and hope the problem would resolve itself by morning. This was the kind of thing that happened in children's stories-not to real people. But the girl- _Rey,_ his mind corrected itself mutinously-kept looking at him and he found himself unable to abandon her just like that.

He knelt down next to her cautiously, praying to every deity he could think of that she wouldn't start crying. "Hello. Where do you come from?" He didn't expect an answer and he didn't get one. "I'm Luke Skywalker. Your parents couldn't have dropped you off with a worse guardian." There was nothing for it. He would have to take her to child services in the morning. They would know what to do with her. They would place her in good hands.

The girl kept looking up at him, almost curiously, biting the soft skin of her thumb as she squirmed to get out of the basket. For the first time, Luke wondered just how long she had been inside of it. Using extreme caution he picked her up, trying to hold her the way he'd seen Leia hold Ben and guessing wildly the entire time. "Would you like to come inside until I figure out what to do with you?" However conflicted he might be, he wasn't going to let the baby freeze to death in the cold night. The baby didn't respond of course, but he got the feeling that she would tolerate that idea if she needed to.

They went inside and he set her down on the couch in the sitting room, piling some cushions underneath so she wouldn't fall off. He took the chair across the room and kept looking at her, waiting for the Force to reveal the course of action he should take. Jedi weren't allowed to marry or have children; he'd learned that in his training. But technically his father had already broken that rule…and looking after a baby girl because her parents wished it wasn't the same thing as having a child himself. Were her parents ever going to come back for her-or would they just expect him to raise their child? He didn't know for sure and the entire thing was giving him a migraine. "Would you like some tea?" Could babies even have tea? Probably not, he decided. She would need some kind of formula. Unfortunately, he didn't have any of that on hand. And what about diaper changes? The baby just continued to look at him stolidly.

"Okay then." he replied. "Are you tired?" She certainly didn't look tired. In fact, if anything she looked more awake than he did. "Who are your parents? Why did they abandon you?"

She still looked at him curiously and he realized he was getting nowhere. _Great. Just great._ "What am I supposed to do with you?"

Finally she cocked her head to the side slightly and looked at him as though she were seeing him for the first time. "Mama?"

"Uh…no. I don't know where your mother is." _I was kind of hoping you did._

"Mama?" she asked again, more insistently this time.

"I'm sorry. I don't know." he replied again.

Her face began to crumple again and alarm bells began to blare inside his head. He'd seen enough of Ben's tantrums to know what was coming next.

Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Rey started to wail.

 _Kriff._ He surveyed his apartment, filled with books about the old Jedi Order-but it held nothing even remotely useful for caring for a crying baby. "No, no-please don't cry. We'll find your parents again, just please don't cry-" If anything, that seemed to make her wail harder.

That was it. He was going to tell the experts. Maybe they would know what to do.

~SW~

He could only imagine how surprised Leia was to see him on her doorstep at close to midnight with a screaming baby in his arms. Of course, she'd seen Luke in all kinds of strange situations over the years-so this probably wasn't too much of a stretch. "Do I want to know?" she asked tiredly.

"No, you probably don't. How do I calm her down?"

"You'd better come inside. She's going to wake the entire neighborhood at this rate." Luke was more than happy to comply.

He always marveled at how clean Han and Leia's house was, even with a two year old living inside of it. Everything had a place-you always knew where you could find a new bottle of formula, a new can of baby food, or even a better hyperspace motivator. It was cleaner than his house at any rate-and he lived on his own. Calmly, she took Rey from him carefully and looked her over with a knowing eye. "When was the last time she had something to eat?"

"I don't know. She just appeared on my doorstep about half an hour ago."

"She's probably hungry-and scared, if what you're saying is true. Was she abandoned?"

"I assume so. Apparently, I'm supposed to look after her."

Leia looked like she would have laughed if times were different. "Then I suppose you should learn how to feed her. What's her name?"

"Rey-and who said I was going to raise her?"

She pointedly ignored him, placing Rey in Ben's high chair and taking a bowl of scrambled eggs out of the refrigerator, letting them heat up in the microwave for a few minutes. "She should be old enough to eat regular foods-but you'll want to start slow. Introduce soft foods first-cooked vegetables and fruits-" She grabbed some of those too. "Breads, and soft cereals to see if she can manage those. It's simple once you get the hang of it."

Easier said than done. He watched the eggs heat up, the rotating disk inside the microwave going around and around to properly cook the eggs on all sides-and tried not to think about how gigantic this mess really was. "Leia, how can I take care of her? It's not like I have the time-"

"So you're taking her to child services in the morning, then?"

"That's the plan. I've never taken care of a child before."

"You could at least give it a couple of days."

He sighed. "Tomorrow I have a meeting with the archivists and next week I'm off to Aqualish. Things aren't slowing down any time soon. It just wouldn't be practical."

"Caring for kids is never practical-but you don't know what you're missing until you've tried it. Ben would love a cousin-but it's your choice, of course. You should do what feels right. Now come on-the food's ready." She grabbed one of Ben's bibs out of a drawer at the back of the kitchen and fastened it around Rey's neck effortlessly before pouring some of the food into a bowl and handing it to Luke, along with a bottle of leftover formula.

Tentatively, Luke scooped a bit of the scrambled eggs onto the tip of the spoon and held it out towards Rey. As soon as she could reach it, the baby ate the food eagerly. Her tears dissolved to hiccups, until she was no longer crying at all.

"She likes you." Leia said. "You must be doing something right."

"How did you and Han manage with Ben?" This had been hard enough. He couldn't imagine having to keep her cared for, out of trouble, and with a clean diaper-much less think beyond that. What about when she had to go to school? What about playdates? What about…actual dates?

"Through lots of trial and error. I would not recommend it." She ruffled Rey's hair, who giggled excitedly at the sudden attention. "She really _is_ cute, Luke."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I know she is. That doesn't change the fact that she's going to ruin my life."

"Stop being so dramatic. She's just a baby."

"For now."

Luke managed to finish feeding Rey without any major mishaps. It took almost thirty minutes; by then Rey had relaxed to the point where she even giggled when Luke wiped the last remnants of carrot off her forehead. God knows how it got up there. He wasn't sure he even wanted to guess at this point.

Just then, Han came downstairs and looked only mildly surprised at the scene playing out in his kitchen. "When did that happen, Luke?"

Luke took that opportunity to tell them both the full story, handing them the note to examine carefully. "I think I'm going to take her to Child Services in the morning. She seems sweet…but there's no way I can take care of a kid right now. There's too much to do what with the Jedi Order and all-"

Han didn't seem convinced. "Sounds like you're scared."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm _not_ scared. It's just not the best thing for her-or for me." He wasn't going to let them talk him into this. If it didn't work out, he didn't want to be held responsible for ruining some little girl's life. "Where's Ben?"

"I finally finished putting him to bed. He wanted to hear another story about the Rebellion and he wouldn't go to sleep until he did."

"He certainly loves stories."

Han nodded, eyes filled with pride. "That he does. He's going to be a regular pilot when he grows up, you know."

"Just like his father." Leia replied, glancing over at Rey to make sure she was still playing peacefully with a foam mobile Han had found in a box of Ben's old things. "She looks like she's getting tired. You should probably go now, Luke-before she falls asleep altogether."

Luke nodded and stood up, picking up Rey with a newfound ease. As she looked up at him with those curious eyes and that button nose, he had to admit that she was pretty cute-if only because all babies were cute. He almost regretted having to leave her before he'd even gotten the chance to get to know her-but it was for the best. "I'll holovid if I need anything."

He hoped he wouldn't need to do that too much.

~SW~

Rey was asleep in his arms by the time he got home. Lacking a cradle or even a spare toddler bed, he made a nest of blankets and pillows for her on the couch so he could watch her while he worked on a stack of papers he had to get done before the next day, when he would be meeting with some old archivists from the original Jedi temple to have some rumors about the location of the First Jedi Temple answered for him. For a couple hours she slept peacefully, chest rising and falling as she made her way through the landscape of a pleasant dream. By hour four Luke could even forget she was there. _This might not be so bad,_ he thought tentatively. For a minute he actually considered what would happen if he adopted her; how his life would change in an instant and never, ever be the same.

He was just about to turn in for the night when she woke up screaming.

It seemed like a full-fledged panic attack-her cheeks seemed completely red and tears ran in streams down either side of her face. "What is it?" he asked, picking her up carefully and setting her on his lap. He wasn't sure what to do with a crying baby and he didn't really like the idea of calling Leia at such an ungodly hour. For kriff's sake, he wished she could just tell him what was wrong.

"Want…Mama!" the baby managed to choke out between sobs, making his chest thrum painfully. He knew how that felt.

"I know." he replied, trying to rock her gently the way Leia sometimes rocked Ben when he simply wouldn't go to sleep. "You know, sometimes I want my mother too." She gave him a look that clearly indicated she thought he was lying. "It's true." he continued. "But unlike you, I don't remember my mother. She died just after I was born. It gets better, you know. Don't worry. You'll see them again-and until then, I'll help you. Okay?"

She nodded once, laying her head down against his chest and ceasing to sob. His heart went out to her; in many ways, they weren't so different. They were both orphans, left in places they didn't belong.

Maybe he did have time, in between all of his meetings and things…just to check on her every now and then. Maybe he didn't have to give her up right away. After all, her parents had _asked_ him to… _Luke, stop it._ Easier said than done, when the baby was in his arms breathing deeply as she slipped into sleep's warm embrace. Even so, he held her a little closer, in spite of herself. "Don't worry." he said, more confidently this time. "I'll look after you. We'll find your parents." He hoped he could keep his word. Maybe he could try it, just for a week. Just as an experiment of sorts.

Something inside of her stirred-he could feel it in the Force. It wasn't much, little more than a twitch, but it was enough to give him pause. It was exactly the kind of Force pull he'd been trained to detect; it usually meant a life form had Force sensitive capabilities. That was impossible though. She was a baby-surely she was too young for the midichlorians to manifest yet. His finger lingered on her forehead for just a split second longer, waiting for something else…some kind of repercussion, perhaps. Something to tell him that he wasn't imagining things. It never came. Conclusively, he thought he must have imagined the whole thing in a haze of sleep depravity. He knew he should get some sleep or he'd be exhausted come morning, but he didn't want to risk setting Rey down anywhere for risk of upsetting her.

Somehow he managed to fall asleep on the couch, sitting upright with a baby in his arms. A baby he'd somehow, inexplicably, managed to grow to care about.

 **For reference, Ben is about two in this story and Rey is about twelve months. Next chapter will have Ben in it.**

 **Thanks for reading! Review, follow, and favorite!**


	2. Shopping

By the time the next morning dawned bright and sunny, Luke had almost managed to convince himself that the night before had been nothing but a bizarre dream.

Until he woke up with numb arms and a crick in his neck from sleeping upright with Rey crying and an unmistakable smell in the air. _Goddammit._ Thank the Force Leia had given him a few diapers for just this eventuality the night before. Still, that didn't mean he knew how to change a diaper. "Good morning to you too." Rey looked at him curiously for a moment and then started to cry even harder.

He turned on the overhead light, figuring he needed a little more illumination if he was actually going to be able to see what he was doing. The light spilled over the contents of his small sitting room-the settee Rey was now reclining on, a table, a few chairs, and numerous shelves of books from the Temple Restoration he'd decided to painstakingly undertake. Nothing he could use to help to change a diaper. It looked, for all intents and purposes, that he was on his own. Rey looked up at him curiously as he looked from her to the diaper and back again. It couldn't be that hard; people did it all the time. Yet he was feeling more than a little bit lost as he looked at the diaper's many flaps and tabs that he simply could not seem to figure out. "Okay. This shouldn't be too much trouble." Even he knew he was just lying to himself.

It took him about twenty minutes to perform the actual diaper change-at which point he'd realized he had put the diaper on backwards and it took him another ten minutes to fix the problem. Then he was faced with the question of what to do with the dirty diaper. He could always put it in the garbage disposal, but there was no sure guarantee that it would be emptied within the next twelve hours and he didn't want the dirty diaper to stink up the house. So, in a desperate lack of any better options, he walked all the way to a public receptacle-which took another twenty minutes. Suffice it to say that when all was said and done he was running considerably late for his meeting.

"What am I going to do with you?" he asked, watching as she cocked her head and smiled at him happily. He just knew that he couldn't turn her into Child Services-it was going to make life a lot harder for him, but he couldn't just abandon her. She couldn't go to the meeting though; that would be asking for too much.

He wondered if the Senate was in session today.

~TBF~

"Thank you so much. I have no idea what I'd do without you-"

Leia laughed as she took a squirming Rey from Luke's hands and set her down on a blanket in the middle of the sitting room. "Don't mention it. Just get going-none of this matters if you're late anyway." She hoped this meant he'd decided to keep the baby-otherwise Rey would certainly be at some kind of Child Services by now. Of course, if the unthinkable _had_ happened…her brother was going to need a lot of help.

And Rey needed a new outfit. "How long will your meeting take?" she continued, eyeing the toddler's faded blue dress that had obviously seen better days.

"A couple of hours at most. Not long."

"So you'll have most of the afternoon free?"

"Theoretically. Why?"

"You're going to need to go shopping and buy some essentials." He looked like he was about to protest vehemently so she continued before he could. "We'll make a day out of it. It'll be fun."

He looked like he thought it would be anything except that but at least he headed out the door. "I'll be back soon. Thanks again for looking after her."

"It's no trouble. Ben will love having someone to play with." He was always talking about how much he wanted a little brother or sister, even though she and Han had told him numerous times that option wasn't even on the table. Ben was enough of a handful; Leia couldn't imagine having another kid running around at this point.

Luke left with one last wave to Rey at the same moment Ben started fussing. He hated sleeping in his crib, especially because it meant he had to wait for someone to decide to take him out of it. He'd tried to climb out himself once or twice, with varied results. She picked Rey up easily and went upstairs to check on him. "I'm Leia." she told the baby, in case she'd forgotten in the commotion of the night before. "It looks like I'm going to be your aunt."

On the way to the nursery, she passed the bedroom-where Han was just starting to get up. "It's your turn to make breakfast." she reminded him.

He groaned; Han hated cooking breakfast. "Really? I thought I just made it."

"Nope. You got to sleep in yesterday. And heat up some more baby food-Rey is spending the day with us."

"So Luke decided to take her in?"

"He sounds like he's thinking about it." She didn't want to get her hopes up too early.

Just then, a loud shriek split the peaceful morning in two. "You might want to get Ben up." Han chuckled, still looking like he was contemplating not getting out of bed.

She rolled her eyes. "I suppose so."

The nursery was just down the hall and it was one of Leia's favorite rooms in the entire house; she'd designed it herself to be the ideal room for a child to grow up in-it was airy and spacious with plenty of toys and spaceships hand painted on the walls. Ben loved it-unless he wanted to get out of his crib. He was standing up, leaning against the crib's sturdy wooden railings and jumping up and down empathetically while he crushed his black baby blanket in one fist. She didn't miss the way he glanced from her to Rey and back again; she could almost hear him wondering if Rey was the baby sister he'd asked for the last holiday season.

"Uncle Luke just stopped by. This is Rey." she said, indicating the baby she was placing gently on the rug that covered the nursery floor. "She's going to be staying with him for a while."

His face fell slightly as she helped him climb out of the crib. "She's not my little sister?"

"Nope-but she'll be here all day if you want to play with her."

Ben's face lit up with happiness and he ran over to talk to Rey. "I'm Ben. What's your name?"

"Rey." Rey replied, beaming up at him. Leia could already tell they were going to be the best of friends.

They spent a good twenty minutes in the nursery, with Ben showing Rey every single toy he owned while she looked on in delight and the air slowly filling with Corellian spices as Han made breakfast. In fact, they almost looked sad when Leia suggested they all go downstairs-at least until she mentioned breakfast was involved. That was enough to get Ben going-and Rey was right behind him, following as fast as she was able. It had been less than an hour and they were already getting along beautifully.

 _Crisis averted._

~TBF~

Going shopping for baby supplies wasn't exactly Luke's idea of a fun afternoon-but he'd be the first to admit that Rey needed some of the essentials. They made a day of it; everyone went further into the city to a few choice stores that Leia and Han insisted would have everything he needed. As there was nowhere convenient to leave the children for a few hours, they came along too.

Han examined the large shelf of diapers; they came in all shapes and sizes to serve all different species. "The more the better." he said, grabbing a huge cardboard box of diapers and placing them in the bottom of the empty cart. "Believe me, you'll need them." A Dug looked over at them almost curiously; Luke supposed that they were bound to attract a few odd glances being such a big group. "Once she gets older, you're going to need to decide what kinds of diapers you want to buy-there's a wide variety." It was making Luke's head hurt just thinking about it.

Next they stopped in the food section so Luke could purchase cans of baby food, bibs, and even a high chair-while Ben and Rey looked with interest at the proceedings and Ben spouted questions like an ever present fountain.

"Be glad that she doesn't talk that much." Han told Luke with a smirk. "Once she learns more words you aren't going to be able to shut her up."

"That's not such a bad thing." Leia replied. "At least you'll be able to sleep through the night again."

That didn't sound promising. "What do you mean?"

"You'll find out." She checked a few more items off on the list of things they simply had to get-it was as long as her forearm. "That just about covers all of the essentials-but you still need baby toys, a crib, a couple of pacifiers, and clothes."

Right. Because that sounded simple.

They tried to find a crib next. Luke was able to find an acceptable one after about ten minutes of looking around; it was painted white and could play soothing music if he programmed some in. He also bought a crib runner covered in little pictures of starships and a mobile with tiny X wings that circled around an even tinier model of Coruscant. Rey liked it immediately and seemed upset when he tried to put it in the back of the cart with the rest of her things.

"What's that?" Ben asked every five minutes, pointing to one thing after another-signs, shelves, even the clear support tubes that ran from the ceiling to the floor and delivered out-of-stock items to eagerly waiting customers. At one point he tried to stand up on the hovercart to get a better look and very nearly fell on his head. That was enough to quell his rush of curiosity-for the time being, at least.

"He's very…interested." Luke remarked as he grabbed a handful of pacifiers.

Leia nodded. "Ben has questions about everything. Even I don't always know the answers. It'll be so nice once he's old enough to use the holonet."

He glanced at Rey, seated upright next to Ben and laughing as she played with her recently acquired mobile. "I'm still worried I'm making a big mistake."

"Give yourself a chance, Luke. You haven't even had her for a week yet. I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit."

He hoped she was right-but he was just as positive things could go completely and utterly wrong.

Then it was time to search for clothes. Luke almost turned around right then and there because there were so many of them-and in so many different styles. There were sundresses, rompers, and even tiny little pilot costumes, lined up in neat rows that stretched to the back of the store. It was impossible to know what to get.

He started with pajamas first and grabbed a few pairs with interminable patterns of starships and white-yellow galaxies carefully stitched around their edges before moving on to play clothes. Rey seemed to have plenty of input, often reaching out of the cart to grab the sleeve of this shirt or the leg of that romper. In fact, it took a lot less time than Luke would have imagined to fill the cart with enough clothes to get the little girl through the next three months at least. The pilot costume went in last; he planned on raising her on tales of rebellions in the stars.

Finally it was time to shop for toys and books-Rey and Ben's favorite part of the entire day. Ben ran from one side of the store to the other, critically examining one toy after another for obvious design flaws. Every so often he would run back to Han or Leia with a toy that he had decided he simply could not live without-and he was invariably turned back with a rebuke-not only did he have all the toys and books he could possibly need but his birthday was fast approaching. Still, Ben was not happy with this news and took to standing in one corner and sulking.

Rey took a different approach, toddling from one colorful display to another and cocking her head curiously as she took in remote control X wing fighters that would fly by themselves with the push of a button and stuffed Ewoks that squeaked adorably when they were cuddled. Her eyes were filled with wonder as she looked around at everything; Luke was almost positive she had never seen a toy store before.

He hadn't thought there had been enough room in the speeders for all the supplies as it was, much less all of the toys and books he ended up buying. Yet somehow they managed to make it work, stuffing plastic airplanes in between rompers and sundresses and placing carefully colored picture books underneath the framework for the incomplete crib. Rey and Ben sat sandwiched between piles of supplies as they wove through the late afternoon traffic to Luke's house, looking out the window obliviously while Luke shook his pocketbook-which was now considerably lighter.

"Did you have fun?" he asked, hooking a sharp right as they soared around the newly refurbished Old Senatorial Building. It was no longer the meeting place for the Galactic Senate; that honor belonged to the planet Hosnian Prime; but it was still one of the last and most potent reminders of the great Republic of old. It was also a very popular tourist destination; beings came from all over the galaxy to find their system's pulpit in the vast chamber. Luke had been there once or twice for various ceremonies after the Rebellion recognizing his valor in the battles of Yavin and Hoth-he'd never had any great interest in going back, as the whole place gave him vertigo.

"Yeah!" Rey cried, while Ben nodded in agreement. She was holding a soft foam Y wing fighter, making little airplane noises as she pretended to make the plane 'fly'. She grinned back at him, eyes shining in delight as they caught the last rays of the setting sun.

~TBF~

Once at Luke's house they immediately set to work getting a nursery put together for Rey. Luckily for all involved parties, Luke had a spare guest room that was reasonably clean and a nice view of the city planet. This was unanimously voted in as the new 'nursery'.

Han ripped open the box that contained the crib framework and winced as dozens of wooden pieces varying in size and shape fell onto the carpeted floor. He plugged the instructions cartridge into his data pad and winced as the instructions swam into focus: a neat mess of blue lines and hard to read sentences. "Can you make out any of that?"

Luke tried and shook his head. "It looks like gibberish."

"Hmm." Han hammered a couple pieces of wood together experimentally. "Do you really think we need them?"

"Probably not." Luke replied, handing him a couple other pieces that seemed to fit together. "I think that goes there."

Working together, they managed to (somewhat) put the crib together. Luke supposed it wouldn't really matter all that much; Ben would be moving to a toddler bed within the next few months and Leia had already said Rey could use the crib he'd vacated. As long as it wasn't going to fall apart sometime that night, he was happy.

"What do you think?" Han asked when everything was done. The crib looked normal. Mostly.

"It looks good." Luke said, tossing the cartridge back into the box absentmindedly. "Not too bad considering we were just guessing the whole time."

"We weren't _guessing._ We were just using common sense."

"I hope it doesn't fall apart."

"It won't. Trust me."

Han was right enough of the time for Luke to think this was a reasonable decision.

The rest of the evening was spent designing the nursery-Rey's crib was pushed to the back of the room, the closet and chest of drawers were filled with outfits, and the cabinets that lined one wall were filled with toys and books alike. Within three hours, they'd managed to change an overall appealing (but nothing special) gust room into a nursery that Rey seemed to love.

They finally ate dinner late at night, when the kids were almost falling asleep. Luke surveyed his living room, now filled with Rey's toys, and shook his head. Things were finally starting to fall into place; it was starting to occur to him that he'd actually more or less 'adopted' a child he'd just met the night before-and that nothing was ever going to be the same. It was almost intimidating-but now that he had more equipment he was actually starting to wonder if he could actually pull this off.

He glanced over at the living room couch, where Rey and Ben were cuddled together sleepily. "They seem to like each other."

"It looks like it." Han said, ruffling Ben's hair carefully. "We should probably get him to bed; he gets cranky when he has to wake up before he's slept for ten hours. Think you have everything you need?"

"I hope so." he replied honestly. "Any last words of wisdom?"

"Enjoy the quiet-once she hits her second birthday you won't be able to shut her up. And get her flying at a young age-God forbid she's scared of heights." He scooped Ben up, who blinked sleepily a few times before turning over in his dad's arms and falling back to sleep uninterrupted, and headed out to the waiting speeder.

"Are you sure you're going to be all right?" Leia asked, taking one last glance around the front room as if to make sure they hadn't missed anything. "You have everything?"

"I hope so. That shopping trip just about bled our funds." He couldn't believe how much everything had cost, when it all came down to it.

"Good. It'll take some getting used to…but it's all going to work out. She's going to adore you."

He sighed, looking towards Rey who was still fast asleep on the couch with her stuffed tauntaun clutched tightly in one hand. He hoped that by taking her in he was giving her a chance-a chance he'd always been denied. "I hope so."

Once the Solos had left and they were left alone, he put Rey to bed in her new crib and her new blankets. She barely even stirred, even when he said goodnight and left the door slightly ajar in case she needed anything during the night.

Whether or not he'd been expecting something like this, it was too late to turn back now.

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	3. Searching for Answers

**Sorry about the extremely long time between updates. I had finals week at my school and both forensics and martial arts have really started to heat up. I hope this chapter makes up for the wait though :)**

 **Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

 **Enjoy!**

"So, I hear you finally adopted."

Luke rolled his eyes, looking at Jia Zhiang as he took another swig of his glass of beer. He'd never acquired much of a taste for alcohol himself, but every now and then he would let himself be tempted at a social occasion. "Is it really that hard to believe?"

"I don't know. You've just always been so committed to the cause. I guess I just assumed you'd never listen to reason." That was something Luke really liked about Jia, when it didn't irritate him-she would say whatever she wanted to say whenever the need struck her. However, she was one of the most accomplished Jedi he'd met in the years since the Downfall of the Empire-and she was just as eager to help him build a new Jedi order.

As Luke had quickly learned, he hadn't been quite as alone as he'd thought. Ever since the Republic's formation, as soon as people learned that he had proclaimed himself a true Jedi, he'd been flooded by 'Hidden Jedi'-Force Sensitive beings who had learned the ways of the Jedi in secret, being taught by the few Jedi Masters who had escaped Order 66 or had taught themselves out of old textbooks smuggled away from the Empire's ceremonial book burnings. There weren't nearly as many of the Hidden Jedi as he would have liked, but they had given him a starting point and a way to assess exactly what would need to be done to heal the Jedi Order. Jia had been one of his staunchest supporters from the very beginning; unfortunately, in other respects he hadn't been so lucky. There were still quite a few people out there who believed a new Order wasn't necessary-in fact, some of them believed that the Republic's downfall had been caused by the Jedi. "It's not necessarily a sure thing. We're going to the Archives tomorrow to see if we can find who Rey's parents really are." She'd been staying with him for a couple of weeks now; he seriously doubted they would find anything at the Archives. People didn't typically abandon their babies if they were planning on coming back.

"She's an adorable baby."

In spite of himself he sat up just a little straighter. "She really is, isn't she?"

Jia just laughed as they looked over the list of documents piled in front of them-all that remained of the great Jedi Temple on Coruscant. They'd had to do jump through all sorts of hoops just to get to this point-including hacking almost all of the Empire's most secure files. And even so, what they had found was very small compared to what they would need to get a new Jedi Order up and running. "So, what have we got?"

"A few old student rosters, some very old texts…but nothing truly substantial. We're missing hundreds of holocrons." Luke had learned about them very late in his teachings, as Ben Kenobi hadn't had any on hand to use to instruct him; they were incredibly old ways of Jedi teaching that contained lessons on movements and forms.

"Mrax said he found a couple on the planet Jelucan."

That was good news at least. "I'll take a look at them. Can he come over tonight? Leia and Han have been looking after Rey a lot this week; if I'm not careful she's going to like them more than she likes me."

Jia laughed. "I'll tell him." They stood up and shook hands, leaving a few coins on the table to pay for their drinks. "Travel well, Luke Skywalker."

"You too. We'll meet again as soon as we have further information." He headed out, already putting the papers back in his bag and preparing to switch from Jedi mode to Father mode.

~TBF~

When he arrived back at the Solos' house, Ben and Rey were playing with a pair of model X wings in the front room, as if waiting for him to come back. "Luke!" Ben cried, scrambling to his feet and running over to give his uncle a hug around the knees. Luke laughed, while at the same time being very taken aback-he'd expected the opposite treatment. Rey was right behind him with a hug of her own. She could walk a little bit now; apparently Ben was teaching her.

Han was reading a book on flight maintenance in the kitchen. "How'd it go?" he asked as Luke gathered up all of Rey's things that had somehow ended up scattered all around the room in seemingly no particular reason or order.

"We're getting there." Luke replied. "Slowly but surely. How was she?"

"Great-she always keeps Ben entertained, which means I can actually do something productive once in a while."

"What did you get accomplished?"

"I organized the spice drawer-Leia is always complaining about how just looking at it is enough to give her a headache. So, you're going to the archives tomorrow right?"

"That's the plan. I just want to make sure we're not missing anything."

"Probably a good plan. This way you won't get any…surprises when she's older."

Luke nodded, watching as Rey and Ben rammed their X wings into one another and practically fell to the ground laughing. He couldn't put words to the real worry that was on his mind-what if the Archives really _did_ find something and Rey's parents weren't really dead? He would have to deal with that thought for years-what if they changed their minds and decided they wanted their daughter back? He wouldn't exactly be able to stop them-and what if Rey actually wanted to get to know them as she got older? It would open an entire world of new and frightening possibilities that he wasn't sure he was ready to confront.

Almost as if she sensed his worry Rey looked back at him and smiled broadly. She had the most radiant smile; it lit up every part of her face like the sunlight on a hot day. Luke felt as though an invisible weight had been lifted from his shoulders; they'd cross that bridge if and when they came to it. All he knew for sure was that Rey had grown on him-and now there was no way he was going to give up his little girl unless he was sure she'd be safe and happy.

~TBF~

They ate dinner in a contented silence that night. Rey sat in her customary spot at one end of the table, swinging her legs in the special chair Luke had got her that would hold her securely while she ate yet still kept her level with the table so she could see him. He'd made himself a meat sandwich and ground potatoes; he'd given her potatoes and a little bit of bread to see how she liked it. She'd eaten baby food for the first week, but eventually she'd grown very curious about what he was eating and he'd soon transitioned her to smaller portions of what he ate-which she seemed to adore.

She seemed to be in an especially good mood; every time he looked up at her she was smiling at him as she scooped up potatoes with her fingertips. For the hundredth time he wished she could talk; he would give anything to know what was going on inside that little head of hers. "What is it?" he asked after a while, knowing she wouldn't answer. Indeed, she just shook her head and smiled even more widely (if that was possible).

She waited impatiently while he cleaned her up before she hopped down from the high chair and toddled across the room to the bookshelf that Luke had especially reserved for her books. It was the first shelf off the ground; just her height. Without so much as looking back at him she grabbed one of the books off the shelf and went over to the chair Luke usually reserved as their reading chair, where she waited for him to sit down, pick her up, and set her on his lap.

He examined the book at a glance; it showed a little X wing pilot on the front with the words _So You Want To Be a Pilot?_ written across the top of the cover. "Do you want to read this?" In answer, she settled back into his chest as if making herself comfortable. He read it all the way through, taking extra time to turn the pages so Rey would have enough time to look at the pictures the way she liked to. Once he got to the last page, she indicated that they go back to the beginning and read it again; Luke had no objections to that so they did. When he'd finished the book a second time, she made him read it a third. He was just starting to worry about what he would do if she wanted to read the book a fourth time when he realized she'd fallen asleep in his lap, chest rising and falling softly as she dreamed-probably about piloting an X wing of her very own.

He chuckled softly as he picked her up and set her down in her crib, where she immediately curled up with her blanket and rolled over while still sleeping soundly. "Sleep well, young one." he said, kissing her forehead as he ensured everything was locked up for the night. Once he was sure the room's temperature wasn't too hot or too cold and that Rey would be more than comfortable until morning, he checked on her one last time and went back to his own room to read before he went to bed.

He didn't think he could exactly be faulted if he reached out with the Force every now and then to be sure she was still sleeping peacefully.

~TBF~

The next morning, bright and early, Luke and Rey were in the speeder headed for the archives. Rey was practically glued to the window, watching the early morning traffic curiously; Luke just found it an annoyance. Sure, he'd been fascinated by everything about Coruscant when he'd first arrived; it was the polar opposite of Tatooine with its gigantic buildings and knots of people everywhere you looked. But the novelty had soon worn off once he'd realized how early he had to leave to get to anything on time and how there was a rush hour every hour due to the influx of urban life. Even just a couple hours after sunrise the lanes were clogged with speeders and he ran the risk of being late.

They arrived at the archive building with just a few minutes to spare. It dominated the horizon; long and grey, with huge banners displaying the flag of the New Republic snapping proudly from its windows. It wasn't busy; they didn't meet many civilians as Luke parked the speeder and helped Rey down onto the pavement. He let her walk up to the front steps on her own as she was fiercely independent and hated being picked up unless it was absolutely necessary; watching Ben run around had incited a fierce fire within her to learn to walk as well so she could keep up with him. However, he did carry her up the front stairs because they were simply too big for her small feet.

"This is the Archive building." he explained in a quiet voice as the heavy concrete doors opened smoothly to admit them. "It holds nearly all of the knowledge in the known galaxy and it's been around for centuries-almost as long as the Jedi Order itself. We're going to try to find out what happened to your parents."

They walked up to the front desk, where a Twi'lek typed away at a computer. "Appointment?" she asked, riffling through a stack of papers.

Luke nodded. "Luke Skywalker. 09:00."

She checked a piece of paper and nodded quickly. "The Head Librarian is expecting you. Please, right this way." She looked down at Rey with a small smile. "Would you like anything to drink? Coffee? Tea?"

"Two waters, please." As she went to fulfill his request, Luke glanced at the map on one wall that showed where all the Librarians' offices were located so he could acquaint himself with the layout. The Archives were oddly shaped; the hallways twisted around and through each other like snakes and there were books everywhere he looked-from holonovels hot off the press to ancient tomes about life and rudimentary scientists older than the galaxy itself. He'd been here many times over the years to peruse the ancient stacks about what life had been like in the very ancient days of the human race but it had been a while; at first he wasn't sure where to go. The map itself wasn't much help; it was filled with red and blue lights to indicate whether Librarians were in or out.

Finally, he located the Head Librarian's office and headed upstairs with barely a minute left before his appointment officially started. The office was lavishly furnished, with real velvet seats and large floor to ceiling windows that flooded the small room with sunlight. It, like the rest of the building, was filled with books-mostly books whose bindings had cracked from age and looked like they could fall apart with only a small amount of prompting. A wizened old human sat behind a massive desk, with an even more massive book settled on his lap; he seemed to have more wrinkles than skin but his eyes were bright and attentive as they took in Luke and Rey. "Luke Skywalker." he said with a pleasant smile, indicating a chair in front of his desk. "Please, have a seat." Luke sat down in the chair indicated, pulling Rey into his lap. She didn't seem very happy with the idea, but she complied well enough. "I assume this is the child you wish to inquire about?"

"Yes. She was left on my doorstep two weeks ago with nothing more than her name. I have no idea where she came from-and though I expect her parents have no wish to come back and pick her up I feel it would be wise to check just to be certain."

"An excellent choice." The Librarian leaned over the desk so he could scrutinize Rey carefully. She took one look at him and shifted away, as though she were almost afraid of him-but he only laughed. "Don't worry, little one-you have nothing to fear from me." With fingers as gentle as butterfly wings, he took her small hand and examined her palm. "Let's see if we can figure out where you've come from." He pulled out a small portable scanner from his pocket and ran it over her palm once and then twice, as if reading frequencies Luke couldn't see. Once he was satisfied, he withdrew the scanner and plugged it into a holodrive on the side of his desk. Information appeared on his data pad almost instantaneously; he read through it quickly, nodding once every so often.

Finally he sat back and faced Luke again. "Her full name is Rey Inanian, from the planet Hosnian Prime." Luke raised an eyebrow slightly; Hosnian Prime was the site of the new government facilities. "Her parents departed in a shuttle two weeks ago; trackers lost them on the outskirts of the known galaxy."

Luke wasn't sure how to feel about that. "Are they dead?"

"At this point, it is impossible to tell-although I can tell you that those who dare to venture beyond the galaxy's borders do not usually return. I can't imagine why they would have dropped their only daughter off on your doorstep, but I digress."

"Do you think they will ever come back and try to claim her?"

"I cannot say with full certainty-but I can tell you that the chances would likely be highly improbable."

"What reason would they have had to attempt intergalactic travel?"

"Perhaps…they knew something no one else did, or they simply wanted to be explorers and try to gain some glory. Not all of the planets outside of our galaxy are uninhabited; if you know where to go, you will find things are just as civilized as they are here. They may have had all sorts of reasons for leaving their child, but I suppose we will never know for sure." He looked at Rey almost tenderly, who was playing with the underside of his desk and not looking at anyone. "For all intents and purposes, she's an orphan."

"Do you think it would be all right if I…adopted her?"

The Librarian smiled at him with a look that made Luke think he'd seen more than his fair share of cases like this. "Yes, Master Skywalker. I think that would be a very good choice." They shook hands and Luke left with Rey in tow, still looking around at everything in a sort of subdued wonder. His head was spinning; he knew what had happened to Rey's parents but his visit had raised more questions than it had answered. Would they ever be back? Why had they left the galaxy in the first place? Now he might never know. Worse, neither would Rey.

Yet he had to wonder, as he drove back to the house and snuck glances at Rey out of the corner of his eye every so often, if that was truly a bad thing. If her family ever came back…that was a problem for another day.

For the moment, she had a new family. She was happy. And he wasn't going to let anything change that.

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